The international technology group SCHOTT’s latest lighting innovation “LuminaLine” has not yet been on the market for three months and has already earned two prestigious international awards. Following the German Innovation Award 2018, LuminaLine has now also received the Red Dot: Best of the Best Award 2018.

Mainz, July 18, 2018 – SCHOTT LuminaLine came away the winner in the Materials category despite competition from 5,600 entries out of 55 countries, winning over a jury of 40 internationally recognized design experts. LuminaLine is also one of the final three nominees for the Red Dot: Luminary, the highest award presented in the Red Dot Design Award for design concepts. LuminaLine had previously prevailed as the German Innovation Award Winner 2018.

According to Stephan Schabacker, Director of Sales Automotive at SCHOTT Lighting and Imaging, it is no coincidence that SCHOTT LuminaLine received both an innovation and design award. “LuminaLine is a particularly strong concept because this component can be used in so many ways, both as a versatile design element and as a resilient component for particularly harsh environments. LuminaLine has its own aesthetics in both the illuminated and non-illuminated state and is easy to recycle as a glass component.”

LuminaLine is technically based on a glass composite whose luminance is bundled by a fiber optic – the soul. This creates an interplay of light and transparency that makes new designs possible. From a functional perspective, LuminaLine is also suitable for using concentrated homogeneous light for industrial and medical applications. However, the lighting technology is strengthened by the thermally toughened clad glass that surrounds the soul. The clad is resistant to physical and chemical loads and withstands UV radiation and temperatures up to 400°C without any problems.

An unmistakably luminous soul for architecture and interior design

LuminaLine shows its particular strength when it comes to the lighting concept’s versatility, which opens up creative applications for demanding markets. In interior design, for example, LuminaLine makes completely new concepts possible: light guides can be used as illuminated room dividers or be integrated into furniture, floors and aquariums. As contour and functional lighting, LuminaLine can illuminate day and night designs in various ways and integrates seamlessly into its surroundings.

In the household appliance industry, it enables ovens that communicate with users using light colors, shining green light when the pizza is ready, for instance. Thanks to heat resistance up to 400°C, the new light guides handle such tasks with ease. This strength in conjunction with chemical resistance also facilitates its use in medicine, where materials are exposed to extreme stresses during sterilization.

The vehicle design of tomorrow: glass doesn’t have to be fragile

The automotive and traffic industries also offer many application possibilities. Reliable, aesthetic contour and functional lighting is playing an increasingly important role in making the car an oasis of well-being. LuminaLine is ideally suited, for instance, for vehicle exterior lighting and enables aesthetic and reliable functional or contour lighting – as an illuminated entry aid or for accentuating exterior doors. “Where visibility used to be the focus, lighting is now used as a form of user experience,” Schabacker explains.

However, the future of mobility must not only apply to vehicles. SCHOTT LuminaLine also turns traffic signal lighting into a design element. The light guides could indicate with a green light on the platform or in transit that trains or buses will soon be arriving, or signal with a yellow light that it will be another five minutes.

Red Dot and German Innovation Award – Two quality signs for design and innovation

The Red Dot Award is one of the most important design competitions in the world. A 40-member jury of international design experts individually evaluates original products. Evaluation criteria include degree of innovation, functionality, aesthetic quality and emotional impact.

The German Innovation Award was initiated by the German Design Council(Rat für Formgebung) and distinguishes products and solutions across all industries that differ from previous solutions above all in terms of user centering and added value. The nomination procedure is unique: only companies proposed by the expert committees and scouts of the German Design Council can participate.

SCHOTT is a leading international technology group in the areas of specialty glass and glass-ceramics. The company has more than 130 years of outstanding development, materials and technology expertise and offers a broad portfolio of high-quality products and intelligent solutions. SCHOTT is an innovative enabler for many industries, including the home appliance, pharma, electronics, optics, life sciences, automotive and aviation industries. SCHOTT strives to play an important part of everyone’s life and is committed to innovation and sustainable success. The group maintains a global presence with production sites and sales offices in 33 countries. With its workforce of approximately 15,000 employees, sales of 2.05 billion euros were generated in fiscal year 2016/2017. The parent company, SCHOTT AG, has its headquarters in Mainz (Germany) and is solely owned by the Carl Zeiss Foundation. As a foundation company, SCHOTT assumes special responsibility for its employees, society and the environment.